MISSION STATEMENT

 

MOVIE
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
Director Christopher McQuarrie
Review Ray Chan

You don’t really need to have seen the last 30 years’ worth of Mission Impossible movies featuring Tom Cruise to comprehend this current offering: the eighth, and purportedly, last of the series.
    And, indeed, it’s almost as impossible as the flick’s name to believe that the toothy thespian made his first appearance for  the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) ─ a special-agent unit loyal to no-one but weirdly always at the beck and call of the USA ─ back in 1996. My daughter, now the mother of four kids, was born not long before then, and she’s practically grown up with each instalment.
    Annoyingly for many of us dad-bodied denizens, Tom has not let age weary him. He looks great for 62, understandably a bit fuller in the face, but still retaining an Adonis-esque appearance.
    As Ethan Hunt, the beleaguered spy’s modus operandi seems to be shooting, sprinting and skydiving in attempts to rescue the world, often in adventures with espionage plots so byzantine and convoluted that  they’re really not worth wasting time pondering over.
    What makes viewers come back to these spectacles is the desire to watch this actor’s adrenaline-junkie pursuit of action-cinema realism, in which he shuns stand-ins and prefers performing the acrobatics and athletics himself.
    At a time when CGI-laden adaptations and mega-blockbusters have dulled even the most extraordinary superhuman feats on screen, Tom's fanatic insistence on performing the most extravagant stunts adds just that bit more spice the films, daring audiences to look away as real blood, flesh and bones are risked for their entertainment. 
    And so, don’t expect any surprises from Final Reckoning. The complex storyline is as inscrutable  as they come, involving a malevolent and pseudo-sentient AI program, while pulling in elements from previous chapters in what seems to be an effort to neatly tie up any loose threads hanging around.
    But as mentioned before, none of it matters. All you need to know is that Hunt and his crew work to overcome insurmountable odds (more than once) to grab an object, fire an object, cut the wires to an object, or shove an object into another object at exactly the right moment.
    It's visual storytelling, and it's the same song the franchise has been singing since our hero was rock climbing or fighting on tops of trains which fell over edges in the first film. You don't have to understand it to get it. 
    The showstoppers are impressive: one involves Hunt navigating freezing waters to infiltrate a sunken Russian submarine (in a sequence that really takes far too long), and the other a well-publicised duel in which the agent gets thrown around like a ragdoll on a biplane.
    And if you want a reason for watching this movie, then that’s the clincher. If this is indeed Tom's swansong, it's the last chance to be enthralled by his antics on the big screen.
    It’s not too much a spoiler to say that Hunt survives the ordeals. So is Final Reckoning truly final? Who can say?
    Hunt has been almost hilariously  described by his peers as "the living manifestation of destiny", but not even his Optimus Prime platitudes about fate and determination can eradicate villainy, which is bound to rear its head again.
    Who will the President call next time? Perhaps it’s something to contemplate while having a roast dinner.

#missionimpossible #finalreckoning #paramountpicturesAus

COULROPHOBIC CORNY-COPIA

 

MOVIE
Clown in a Cornfield
Director Eli Craig
Review Ray Chan

About 20 minutes into this movie, viewers can be forgiven for twitching in their seats … not out of fright, but perhaps of boredom at the usual tropes and gruesome gore expected of typical slasher spectacles.
    During this introductory period, the plot’s pretty basic. 17-year-old Quinn Maybrook (Katie Douglas) and her single father (Aaron Abrams) have moved into rural Kettle Springs, Missouri, where Quinn befriends a group of teens her age and finds that her fun-loving cohort appear to be generally frowned upon by the older generation in the town, who prefer the quieter life of yore.
    Then a killing spree by someone wearing a clown costume drenches the community in a sea of blood. It turns out that the jester is a facsimile of Frendo, a mascot of the local corn syrup factory which burned down years ago, an incident which many of the elderly folks believe was caused by the young ‘uns.
    Ho-hum, you might think. But then, in the hands of director Eli Craig, all of this is intentional and referential to the history of slashers, down to the point where Quinn quips that the massacres remind her of something out of an 80’s splatter show. 
    Craig is best known for co-writing and directing Tucker and Dale vs Evil. In the years since that film’s release, no other self-parodying scare production has even come close to snatching the crown off of its trucker-hatted head. Its genius is rooted in simultaneously inhabiting and satirising the genre, without sacrificing either the jokes or the terrors lurking round the corner. 
    And so, in a blink of an eye, this movie picks up, revealing not just some clever and inventive scenes, witty dialogue and plenty of red herrings as to the identity of the villain, but also some incredibly solid kills, like the gnarly chainsaw slaughter in the middle of the cornfield, a barbell incident that sees a severed head dispatched into a bin, and a brutal pitchfork sequence that results in two deaths.
    Kevin Durand is the unexpected delight of the cast, and looks so much like Elon Musk that he must be a shoo-in for the lead if a doco-pic of the businessman were ever made.
    In this picture, as Arthur Hill, Durand initially comes off as a stereotypical father who is part of a lucrative family that founded the town. But he evolves into something else entirely that is wholly crucial to the circus-themed massacre.
    Metaphorically, the theme of Clown .. is of a feud between the older and younger contemporaries. The divide is amplified by incidents such Quinn not being able to drive an old-fashioned stickshift car, her disgust at the absence of a strong wi-fi signal, or her school friends being stumped by a rotary phone, unable to call for help. The high school students are sneered at, looked down on for simply having a good time, and judged for things they didn’t ever do or think about doing. The sheriff seems to make his own laws, and teachers dish out detention for no reason.
    Craig and co-writer Carter Blanchard treat the movie with moments of coulrophobic greatness. Frendo is a brutal psychopath whose weird devotion to the harlequin art form (like his big shoes that squeak when he walks during the tensest moments of stalking his prey) makes the audience snigger through the slaughter.
    One particular confrontation in the cornfield is particularly well-choreographed: Quinn and two girl friends are hiding in panic from a chainsaw-wielding Frendo, when one of them inadvertently gasps in fear. Her pal alongside clasps her hand over her mouth to silence her, only for the would-be-saviour herself to also start to yell out in fright. Quinn completes the sequence by covering this girl’s mouth, but then gets her own face grasped by the white glove of Frendo.  
    One can’t help but notice that the film is overflowing with palpable teenage energy. But the constant barrage of “adults just don’t understand us” and the nonstop desire to drink themselves stupid at every opportunity becomes predictable and tiresome.
    Still, the movie is refreshingly different to straight-out fright flicks because of the whimsiness and wit strewn in among the clownish carnage. The playful campy tone only adds to the entertainment, deftly balancing the comedy and horror elements. This is not The Terrifier, and Frendo is no Art.
    There are a couple of plot twists along the way to wrap things up nicely. One involves the unmasking of Frendo, the other a neat development between two of Quinn’s friends that can be picked up earlier in the story if one were astute enough.

#clowninacornfield #studiocanal

HARD RAIN FALLS ON ALIENS' PARADE

 

MOVIE
Alien: Romulus
Director Fede Alvarez
Review Ray Chan

It's not easy to take on part of a franchise so well-known that there is bound to be disappointment if it fails to match its predecessors. So a tip of the hat to Fede Alvarez for chancing the arm: with Alien: Romulus, he demonstrates a bold yet respectful approach to reviving the iconic series, crafting a production that combines the claustrophobic terror of Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic with the action-driven tension of the 1986 sequel.
    Predominantly spanning the 22nd and 24th centuries, the Alien series, of course, depicts the deadly encounters between humanity and the Xenomorph, a hostile, endoparasitoid, extraterrestrial species.
    Set as an interquel between the two originals, this new movie focuses on working-class characters hoping to escape the oppressive shadow of the megalomaniacal amoral megacorporation, Weyland-Yutani.
    The plot is lean and direct: en route to freedom, the youngsters must navigate a decaying space station, which is split into two ominously designed halves, "Romulus" and "Remus". While it doesn’t break new narrative ground, the minimalist storytelling initially allows for a meticulous focus on atmosphere, tension, and world-building.
    The good news is that the cast delivers strong performances, particularly from Cailee Spaeny, whose portrayal of the charismatic Rain resonates with grit reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver’s iconic Ripley, the fiercely determined protagonist of the initial film. 
    The opening sequences offer promise, with the set design, drenched in shadows and eerie lighting, recalling the tactile realism of H.R. Giger’s original visual style, heightened by exceptional practical effects and immersive cinematography.
    But then, unfortunately, the stumbles kick in. Anyone remotely familiar with the premise can already surmise what unpleasantness awaits on the satellite. Kudos to Álvarez, though, for the sheer gusto and graphic detail with which he gets the space salamanders slaughtering the supporting cast, in ways more imaginative than the previous instalments.
    And yet it is this general air of predictability which kills any sort of suspense. Many sequences are telegraphed, and it isn’t hard to guess which faces are likely to get hugged and which torsos are about to be skewered.
    And indeed, the final stanza of the movie is as calculable as they come. One of the group, heavy with child, injects herself with a serum manufactured from xenomorph DNA. The resulting progeny, a human-alien hybrid, is clearly meant to evoke some visceral scares, and aimed at underscoring the recurring theme of corporate greed meddling disastrously with nature.
    But its execution — marked by stilted and jarring CGI and overly elaborate creature design — feels at odds with the otherwise grounded, practical-effects-driven aesthetic of the offering.
    While Romulus excels in capturing the grimy, lived-in world of the original films, this particular creature seems out of place. There’s a scene where it attempts to breastfeed from the human mother. Metaphorically, it may be a nod to the legends of Romulus and Remus suckling from a she-wolf; however its presence just disrupts the carefully curated tone, veering into melodrama and detracting from the more compelling aspects, such as the confined horror of being trapped with the acid-spewing critters.
    In the end, while Romulus demonstrates Alvarez’s understanding of the series’ core strengths, the reliance on such over-the-top elements risks diluting what made Alien so iconic: its simplicity and restraint.
    For all its intermittent bright spots, Romulus may ultimately be remembered for a creature that tried too hard to innovate, and instead ended up alienating the audience.

 #alienromulus

MAKE MINE MARVEL MADNESS

 

MOVIE
Deadpool & Wolverine
Director Shawn Levy
Review Ray Chan

The renowned film studio 20th Century Fox pioneered the real age of Marvel superheroes. Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it brought some of Marvel Comics' most iconic four-colour characters to life on the big screen with the X-Men and Fantastic Four.
    In 2019, of course, it was acquired by Disney to become 20th Century Studios, and so became cohorts with Marvel Studios, the creator of the MCU, a media franchise and shared universe of films and television series based on characters that appear in Marvel Comics publications.    
    As time attests, not all of Fox's productions were favourably received, although the two Deadpool offerings stood out for their originality.
    Deadpool & Wolverine is Marvel Studios' first foray starring the Merc with a Mouth, and carries on the flavour of the initial 'Pool pics with irreverent humour and shenanigans.
    But more importantly, it serves as a love letter — a regular missive of memories — to everything that came before it, celebrating the Fox universe and all it accomplished over the years.
    The movie is stuffed with silly in-jokes, references, fourth wall disruptions and bits of comedy, pretty much the same as its predecessors, but taking it to an extreme.
    Despite an effort to infuse a hint of emotion during the last act, it’s basically a non-stop laugh-a-thon that exists to deconstruct everything we know about superhero films. It certainly shows no fear at biting hard the hand that feeds it.
    The overall gist is that Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) — a being with superhuman strength and regenerative healing abilities — is tasked with preventing his timeline from being destroyed, entailing finding a multiverse version of the claw-sheathing Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to join him on a trek through the Void, a wasteland for all the Marvel projects that failed or never reached fruition.
    There, they encounter Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin), the megalomaniacal twin sister of X-Men leader Charles Xavier, who rules the Void with an iron fist.
    Early scenes are as funny as they are violent, leading to the movie’s R-rating (MA15+ in Australia). In his efforts to find a “perfect” Wolverine, Deadpool meets several different versions of the Canadian carnivoid, most of which result in amusing encounters with variants adapted from comic book appearances.
    (One gripe: on the first of his travels, he exhumes the skeleton of the mutant who died in 2017’s Logan, the magnificent saga of the last Wolverine story, and one this writer considers the best ever superhero movie made. The shocking exploit is done for cheap laughs merely to set up a grisly confrontation with a group of assassins, and severely dilutes a cinematic masterpiece which really should have been left untouched.) 
    The picture truly takes off though once the protagonists hit the Void. Many gags are aimed at the Marvel movies made by Fox, several of which didn’t exactly satisfy fans. Others deal with figures who declined in popularity, never made it past the casting rumour stage, and so on.
   But there’s an effort to give these maligned or faded characters some redemption. Multiple well-known actors appear in cameos, game to be in on the gag while also quite clearly happy to get a makeover. A surprise twist featuring Chris Evans is almost the icing on the cake, while look out for the guy who was last seen playing a certain Man of Steel in the Warner Bros franchises.
    Reynolds had a part in the script, and he doesn't shy away from making himself the butt of much buffoonery. Yet despite the red rogue's many incessant quips, it's Jackman who steals many scenes, smartly playing the straight guy, with the pair resembling a modern-day Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis for the masses.
    But here’s the thing. Deadpool & Wolverine is so laser-focused on satirising all things Marvel that there’s really not much else to it. The two previous films at least had a semblance of story, whereas this is nothing more than a 127-minute string of references for Marvel fans to salivate over.
    So on that note, here's a warning: if you come in cold and know nothing about the Deadpool or Marvel legacy, you will be sorely disappointed. 

#marvelstudios #deadpool&wolverine

FAIR WEATHER FARE

 

MOVIE
Twisters
Director Lee Isaac Chung
Reviewer Ray Chan

The original version of Twister spiralled across the screens almost three decades ago, a surprise disaster hit replete with flying cows.
    Reviving it for current audiences may seem like throwing caution to the wind, pun intended, even if the reiteration understandably comes with better effects. But is it a better story? Well, the title is plural for a start, indicating the audience is in for more than just one mammoth blast of air.
    Five years after the tragic death of three of her friends during a tornado-tracking experiment in Oklahoma, we hone in on weather expert Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), now content with a desk job at the geomagnetic storm watcher agency NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).
    However, when Javi (Anthony Ramos), the only other survivor of the initial accident, asks her to lend her talents to his new twister-hunting endeavour, she finds the lure hard to turn down.
    And so off they go down the winding track, pun intended again, where they come up against a rival pursuit team headed by former rodeo cowboy-turned meteorologist and YouTube sensation Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who immediately pushes all the wrong buttons with his arrogant, roughshod demeanour. 
    This thread is reminiscent of the original movie, where there were two rival chase teams, and two competing leaders with barely muffled romantic attraction. But they also share largely ridiculous weather science, particularly when Kate and Tyler try to refine one of the former’s old high school projects in the hope of accurately controlling the whirlwinds, which seem to occur pretty frequently.
    As they try to corral another tornado, they find out that it's going to hit the town of El Reno, resulting in a rescue job to evacuate residents. Things then happen quickly: amid general destruction and chaos, Tyler’s leg is trapped by debris from a crashed train, but Kate and Javi rescue him. Tyler then saves Kate after she gets overturned in a truck.
    Interestingly, there is no mention of climate change, which one might expect would have been used in any sort of moral exposition to explain the growing phenomena.
    But perhaps director Lee Isaac Chung deliberately refrained from a sledgehammer approach and doesn’t want to state the obvious: that our planet is on fire, and everything from hurricanes to wildfires to tornadic outbreaks are getting worse. That's why Twisters ends with a facile suggestion that new technology can somehow mitigate these disasters.
    All in all, there is a stronger sense of humour and fun in the movie that makes it a lot less stodgy then the original. The chemistry between Powell and Edgar-Jones is solid, and keep a lookout for new Superman actor David Corenswet, who plays a member of Tyler’s twister troop.

#universalpictures #twistersmovie

SHOW ENDS WITH A BIG BANG

TV SERIES
Young Sheldon
Producer Chuck Lorre
Reviewer Ray Chan

This week, viewers of the TV program Young Sheldon were glued to their sets as the seven-season series ended with a much-anticipated tear-wrenching finale.
    And it was certainly some send-off for the coming-of-age sitcom, a prequel to The Big Bang Theory (TBBT), both of which were created by Chuck Lorre.
    But hold on. It’s just another trademark American milquetoast offering, you say? One with canned laughter and forced acting? Not quite, gentle reader.
    Firstly though, let’s update those who have never watched the TBTT franchise, or maybe just have a passing knowledge of the premise.
    The focus of the original show explored the lives of a group of friends, young scientists united by their brilliance and social awkwardness, navigating life, work, and relationships.
    Chief protagonist and former child prodigy Sheldon Cooper, now in adulthood, continues to confound “normal” members of society with his distinctive and often eccentric behaviour, moulded by high intelligence, obsessive-compulsive traits, arrogance and superiority, and balanced by the lack of social skills and empathy.
    There were those who found TBBT eminently unwatchable, with the story plotlines often rehashing plots and revolving around yet another misunderstanding among the characters, dotted with frequent displays of one-upmanship. Sceptics – and there were many, this reviewer included – did not believe a spin-off would work. Surely it would be just a juvenile copy of the dull TBBT format, itself a more-or-less nerdy version of the over-rated Friends. 
    However! Young Sheldon is a far, far different beast. As the title suggests, it shines the spotlight on Sheldon in his pre-teen days, growing up in a fictitious Texan town, and trying to fit into a world of people, including his own family and friends, who struggle to cope with his intellectual capabilities and social ineptitude.
    The tone is a world of difference away from the mundane shows that spawned it. There are no sledgehammer jokes or ludicrous situations looking for a laugh. From the very first episode of the very first series, the viewer is hooked in by a mix of fresh comedy, truly funny and clever dialogue, well-defined characters who are more fleshed out than the shallow TBBT stereotypes, and an absolutely wonderful cast.
    That’s no understatement. Iain Armitage pulls off the young genius with aplomb and a fair amount of cuteness and cleverness, but equally compelling to watch are Raegan Revord and Montana Jordan as his twin sister Missy and older brother Georgie respectively. Revord in particular shines for one so young (like Armitage, only nine in the debut season), and it has been a pleasure to watch her acting prowess develop over the years. Jordan absolutely steals some episodes with his lackadaisical attitude and innate goodness, and his development into a more responsible adult as he comes to terms with unplanned fatherhood. 
    Sheldon’s parents, played by Lance Barber (George) and Zoe Perry (Mary), make equally solid contributions to the show, George with his hardworking ethos and devotion to the family, and Mary devoting her life to Christianity after pledging to the cause if she delivered the twins safely. It’s interesting to note that Sheldon – and by default Lorre and his co-writers – is clearly a follower of science and unapologetically atheist, a scenario that becomes the subject of many discussions in various chapters.
    And let’s not forget Constance, maternal grandmother of Sheldon, Missy, and Georgie, whom they refer to as Meemaw, played superbly by movie veteran Annie Potts, switching from Ghostbusters to grandma. Often mocking George and sarcastic with others, she is a trustful confidante to an exasperated Mary, who she advises that Sheldon will find his way despite his idiosyncracies.
    This bedrock of lovable personalities intertwine with genuine love, conflict and relationships that easily pulls audience members in, making them eager with each show to find out what twists and turns lie beyond the corner in Sheldon’s journey.
    The beauty of Young Sheldon has been infinitely more than skin deep. Initially riding in tandem with its elder sibling, it blossomed beyond its roots into an independent exploration of family dynamics, tackling everyday issues with empathy and amusement. A soap opera that mixed whimsy with warmth.
    Sadly, the longevity of the series had always been hamstrung by retrospective revelations that had been made in TBBT, causing the scripters to come up with imaginative ways to stick to canon.
    But there was nothing they could do to delay the inevitable or write out the biggest developments that had been foreshadowed for Sheldon’s tumultuous 15th year: that he would leave Medford for Caltech University soon after his father passed away.
    Hence the finale, broadcast over two airings, and spearheaded by an antepenultimate and emotional instalment in which George dies of a heart attack.
    We see the Cooper family struggle with saying goodbye to George, with Sheldon revisiting his last moments with his father and thinking of what he could have said to him but didn’t. 
    On a poignant note, the always faithful Mary rages at God at the memorial service before Meemaw steps in to lighten the mood. Sheldon, still lost in his own head, imagines the heartfelt eulogy he is too numb to give. Georgie steps up to the plate and displays a responsibility to looking after the family that betrays his oft-reckless attitude. Family and friends all react to the tragedy in different ways, and it’s a nice tribute to the show to see so many familiar faces return for the conclusion.
    Indeed, it is a testament to the always excellent writing that such a sensitive issue was treated with the seriousness it deserved, but balanced by gentle lightheartedness and soft sentimental pangs.
    There’s hardly a dry eye when someone like George, so steady, so reliable and so unassuming, is just … gone. And metaphorically, Young Sheldon too has disappeared.
    The series has been a joy to watch from the first season to its 7th, with viewers growing along with the three Cooper kids as they went through puberty (in real life as well as on the screen) and matured. We’ve seen Sheldon attending high school at 9, enter college at 11, and then at 15, moving to Caltex, where TBBT is set.
    The final episodes were designed to hit many of the notes that the show had played so well during its run, ending with a wrap that aimed to have a little bit of humour with a little bit of hope. The series finishes in an understated and touching way — going out just as it came in, and we will probably never see the likes of it again.
    The franchise will continue later this year with another adjunct: Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, following Georgie his wife Mandy, as they raise their baby daughter. It has a hell of a job to do to be even half as good as its predecessor.

#youngsheldon

MORE THAN JUST A MONSTER MOVIE

 

MOVIE
Godzilla Minus One
Director Takashi Yamazaki
Reviewer Ray Chan

Well, this must be about the best holiday present you could get. Just as the year draws to a close, comes a movie that is quite possibly the best of 2023 … and the biggest surprise is that it’s a Godzilla film. 
    What makes it stand out is the production’s focus on the relationship between its human protagonists as they try to battle the threat of the titular giant monster, when it first arises from the ocean to wreak devastation on Japan.
    There’s no explanation about Godzilla’s origins: he just IS. And it’s up to the citizens of the country, recently recovering in the aftermath of the atomic bomb that stirred the beast from its hibernation, to stand up or be slaughtered. 
    The story, from franchise owner-originator movie production company Toho, is a masterclass in action and storytelling, an absolute spectacle about humanity that provides far more compelling pathos and cerebral content than the Hollywood releases of Legendary Pictures, which tiresomely focuses on the efforts of the bureaucratic agency Monarch to keep Godzilla and his bunch of so-called Titans at bay (and for which a TV series has been created).
    Godzilla Minus One is essentially a remake of the 1954 Godzilla, with inspiration (particularly in its first and third acts) from a few others in the early series. But while the production borrows their basic story structure and certain themes, it brings a great deal of original characterisation to the table, while improving upon the inspirational elements from those other chapters.
    Writer-director-visual effect supervisor Takashi Yamazaki’s magnificent script is full of real, delicate, flawed people trapped in horrifying circumstances and facing impossible expectations and odds (both internal, cultural, international, while contending with a giant atomic monster).
    The premise surrounds a Japan ravaged by World War II, with Godzilla’s attacks taking the country “from zero to minus one”, symbolising a shattered Japan which thought it couldn't sink any lower after the bombings. Proximity to the events of Hiroshima lends it an immediacy that permeates every scene, the complex messages and cultural mea culpa combining with overwhelming weight of grief, loss, and sense of morals about the dangers and evils of nuclear power.
    In terms of the lizard itself, it hits every major story beat that any audience would expect from a Godzilla story. Urban destruction, fleeing crowds, the monster’s horrifying emergence from the waters: all executed with percussive bombast and luminous visual flair. It features several extraordinarily satisfying action scenes, which deliver thrilling moments of monster mayhem and display, through to some jaw-dropping visual effects.
    But all this takes second stage to the characters brought to vivid life by a tremendous cast. Ryunosuke Kamiki plays Koichi, disgraced after failing on not just one, but two, counts of cowardice: losing his nerve as a kamikaze pilot in WWII, and then subsequently freezing when he has the chance to shoot Godzilla as it attacks and kills his crew.
    Bearing this emotional weight and survivor’s guilt, he then has to contend with the unexpected intrusion of a woman named Noriko, who comes into his life with a baby who is not her own.
    How he achieves redemption and helps ordinary Japanese people scratching a living in the ruins of a firebombed Tokyo, and their ultimate confrontation with Godzilla, is rendered in ways that foreground their resilience, comradeship, compassion, and hope, imbuing what could have been a maudlin and grimdark affair with warmth and personality.
    And a quick thumbs up to Naoki Satō, for a score which impressively takes viewers between the gentle and haunting single-line melodies of intimate and emotional scenes, to the huge and explosive scare chords during Godzilla's rampages.
    During the more triumphant scenes, Sato utilises sweeping orchestras against the characters' heroic speeches, but equally important are the moments where the ambient sounds make up the only soundtrack — lending a sense of peace and realism in the human moments.
   2023 has not been a memorable one for outstanding movies, but it has been bookended by two marvellous masterpieces: Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale in January, and now this killer kaiju chronicle that out-trumps every other offering since then.

VAPID VAMPIRIC VOYAGE

 

MOVIE
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Director André Øvredal
Reviewer Ray Chan

It’s always difficult to build any element of surprise into a movie which viewers already know the outcome of.
    And so it is with The Last Voyage of the Demeter, extrapolated from the “captain’s log” chapter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, which dwells on the ill-fated journey of the schooner conveying the vampire’s coffin amongst its cargo of stock and spices.
    Those familiar with the source material already know that the ending is going to be bleak. And even if they didn’t, the name of the production surely gives it away. The challenge then is to draw out the intrigue in what is pretty much a fait-accom-pic.
    Set in the late 19th century, the oceanic passage is the final one for the ageing Captain Eliot before his retirement, who has assembled a ragtag crew for the trip, including a Black doctor (Clemens) whose presence is the cause of discomfit among some of the prejudiced deckhands.
    After leaving Bulgaria for England, they discover an ailing stowaway (Anna) who Clemens insists upon nursing back to health against the crew’s wishes. She not only poses a threat to the crew’s rations, but, more importantly, seems to be too aware of another trespasser on board.
    Dracula is alive, of course – as much as an undead creature can be – and craving sustenance, stealthily picks off the crew one by one during the dark of night, when he is protected from the deadly rays of the sun.
    As the seafarers get increasingly spooked by the events, the gory attacks intensify, and eventually it becomes clear that a malevolent presence is on board.
    Director André Øvredal crafts some intense frights from the film’s bleak and claustrophobic surroundings, with the dark and creaky vessel lending itself to a few effective jump scares.
    But some horror scenes do strike the viewer in the face, particularly when Dracula’s victims, tainted by chiropteran blood, start to burn in the glare of the day. And no-one is safe, not even helpless women and children.
    The antagonist is never clearly shown in the early scenes, reflecting the mystery behind the attacks. The audience only gets to see the Nosferatu-esque form at the same time as the surviving crew members do when they confront the creature.
    In this respect, it’s a bit of a disappointment. The bat-like visage does little to strike any sort of fear in an audience well-used to and weary of such CGI creations. As a shapechanger, the Count could easily have taken on the appearance of his victims, adding to the effectiveness of his subterfuge as well as the overall suspense of the film.
    Both Clement and Anna play important roles in the story, serving as anchors for the narrative to evolve, but ultimately, Last Voyage of the Demeter doesn’t yield much character development nor thematic complexity beyond the minimal expository requirements as it builds toward its reveal.
    The film’s conclusion hints at possible future adventures. But once again, if you've read the book, you know where this is going.

 

#lastvoyageofthedemeter #universalpicsau

BOTS AND THE BEASTS

 

MOVIE
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Director Steven Caple Jr
Reviewer Ray Chan

THIS reviewer has been critical of director Michael Bay in the past, whose movie trademark seems to be wanton destruction of cities and vehicles in scenes that drag on interminably.
   His handling of the Transformers franchise kicked off no differently, with the various instalments  seemingly packed with plenty of pandemonium and little else.
   So it was with much relief when Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight, came along with a completely different style of storytelling — heartfelt, sweet and funny, and lacking in awful racial stereotypes and people screaming and sweating while explosions substituted for storytelling.
   Bumblebee was an exceptional offering, and brought hope back to fans of these weird, shapeshifting robot alien protagonists.
   The trend continues with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, this time directed by Steven Caple, Jr, although Bay still lingers around as producer.
   Once again, the film isn’t a direct sequel as much as it’s simply a continuation, another adventure wherein the Transformers, stranded on Earth, ally themselves with a small group of humans in an effort to save the galaxy.
   A massive planet-eating being known as Unicron seeks the mysterious Transwarp Key which will open portals through which he can travel the universe and destroy everything in his path.
   He has a set of evil robot minions called Terrorcons, led by the nefarious Scourge (Peter Dinklage), who have been scouring the stars to find the cosmic contraption.
   They eventually discover it, and of course it’s in the USA. Upon finding out about the artifact, Optimus Prime and his cohorts Bumblebee (still mute and using random collections of recorded voices to communicate), Mirage and Arcee seek to use the tool to return to their home planet, Cybertron.
   Prime and his gang form an uneasy alliance with two humans – Noah and Elena – and also encounter another race of Transformers known as Maximals, robots who can transform into giant animals, hence the title of the movie.
   They are led by giant gorilla Optimus Primal (*groan*), voiced by Ron Perlman, and his lieutenant Airazor, a giant falcon (voiced by Michelle Yeoh, who continues to be featured in movies everywhere all at once).
   Ludicrous as the premise might be, Caple makes it work, crafting an energetic and charming adventure film, devoid of the cheap laughs that Bay glorified, instead going for genuinely funny lines that aren’t at anyone’s expense, with a likable, capable cast that feels like real people, not just stock characters with no personality.
   The action is chaotic and wild, but serves the story well as the film travels the world – including a trip to picturesque Peru – and uses actual cultural touchstones to explain some of its sillier plot points.
   Primal, like Prime, share solemn intonations about trust and belief and helping friends. It’s laid on far thicker than it needs to be, yet the constant noble proclamations are what make some fans come back again and again to watch the series.
   Rise of the Beasts runs just over an hour and a half: a comfortable viewing time, especially when compared to many other pictures competing on the silver screen … or what passes for one in this modern age. But don’t be too quick to leave your cinema seat: stay for the end credits for perhaps the most unexpected highlight, when the production hints at the introduction of another line of characters manufactured by the Hasbro toy and game conglomerate.

#transformersriseofthebeasts @universalpicsau

 

COOL RUNNINGS

 

MOVIE
The Flash
Director Andrés Muschietti
Reviewer Ray Chan

THE butterfly effect is literally a tale as old as time. Even the smallest change in history will lead to much larger and different consequences in the future.

    And in this movie, that’s where the troubles start for Barry Allen, who, as the Flash and a newly-minted member of the Justice League, has recently discovered he can travel back in time by moving faster than the speed of light.

    Barry epiphanises that he can use this new skill to help acquit his father of wrongful murder charges against his wife. The incident can be traced back to one can of tomatoes – if his mother hadn’t forgotten to buy them earlier that fateful day, his father would never have gone out to the grocery store, an intruder wouldn't have thought the house was empty, and his mother would never have been killed.

    Barry duly voyages to the past, planting the tomatoes in his mother's shopping cart so that different circumstances would prevail, thereby saving her life.

    The result is chaos, as the whole universe then starts to unravel.

    Barry ends up in a reality where he loses his powers, meets up with a doppelganger who he has to train to take up the Flash mantle, and finds out that there are no other metahumans around.

    There is a Batman though, although different to one that Barry knows. This version is the 1989 movie hero portrayed by Michael Keaton, who, now retired, is enticed to team up with the two Allens to help battle the arrival of the Kryptonian tyrant General Zod.

    Indeed, Keaton’s much-publicised return is an admirable and well-conceived callback for the fanboys and baby boomers who flocked to the film when it premiered more than three decades ago … a joyful resurrection embellished by the sight of the sleek Batmobile and the iconic Batwing silhouetted against the moon, all to the original Danny Elfman theme.

    With no Superman around in this world, a new hero emerges in the form of Kara Zor-El, the civilian name of Supergirl (although she is not referred to as such here). As she is also Kryptonian, she soaks in the super powers imbued by the Earth’s sun, and together with the Flashes, attempt to contain Zod and his armies.

    The interaction between the two Allens as they team up gives the picture a human, relatable edge missing from so many super-hero offerings in recent times, in particular Marvel misses like The Eternals and Ant-Man: Quantumania, where watchers are dragged through interminable inter-galactic or outworldly sequences.

    Miller gives his characters the perfect jittery, hyper-energetic quality expected from someone who views people in his surroundings moving at a snail’s space. And he’s not let down by the cast members, all of whom pull their weight with distinction.

    The flashpoint of the movie (pun intended) occurs when the heroes fail to bring down Zod despite a valiant effort, resulting in the sacrifice of one of them. Barry surmises he can once again go back in time again and again to try and reach a nexus where the villain is defeated.

    It’s at this juncture that viewers of a certain age, this reviewer included, will discover the production’s most riveting moment: trapped inside a multiverse, Barry witnesses variant versions of Earth created due to his meddling with time, some with heroes, some without. In a stroke of genius, to represent these divergent individuals, director Andrés Muschietti calls in a string of the different versions of various DC characters from throughout the years, from across stage, screen and television.

    Identifying the cameos is just half the fun: discovering some unexpected appearances is another source of joy, which will guarantee a return screening for many.

#universal #flashmovie #dccomics

FASHION STATEMENT

 

MOVIE
Mrs Harris Goes To Paris
Director Anthony Fabian
Reviewer Ray Chan

Here’s a sleeper that first hit the cinemas late last year and is now doing the rounds on Netflix, enabling those who missed it an opportunity to watch surely one of the most heartwarming productions of the past 12 months.
    Oscar nominee Lesley Manville stars as Ada Harris, a working class cleaning woman in the WWII era earning her keep maintaining the affluent abodes of London while her husband serves a tour of duty abroad.
    Her life is thrown a curve when she hears news of her husband’s death in action, whereupon she decides the time is right to cast caution to the wind and embark on a fresh challenge. She scrimps and saves from her tight budget to pursue her newfound dream of travelling to Paris to purchase a couture Christian Dior gown.
    Symbolically for her, the dress will usher in a new chapter, a reminder to the world that she still has a life to be lived.
    But as expected, nothing goes too smoothly at first. Once in the French capital, our everyday heroine is confronted with unexpected barriers of class and presumed taste, both in her interactions with the French upper crust and within the Dior fashion house.
    Yet her journey is one that brings out the kindness and goodness of almost everyone she encounters, each of them moved by her earnest enthusiasm and indefatigably warm heart.
    Filmmaker Anthony Fabian delivers a thoroughly agreeable endeavour that benefits from the superb efforts of Manville (looking every bit a cross between Betty White and Meryl Streep) and her various co-stars, as the performers’ uniformly charismatic work goes a long way towards perpetuating the movie’s compulsively watchable atmosphere – with the lead herself turning in a completely captivating and sympathetic performance that effectively anchors the proceedings from start to finish.
    And the Dior wardrobe on show is pretty spectacular. Models shapely and slender with velvet vestments, silken smocks, enchanting ensembles, and a range of elegant accoutrements jaunt up and down the catwalk, pulling in the viewer as much as a flabbergasted Ada sitting in the audience.
    Although the picture is admittedly a little padded-out and overlong in certain stretches, the midsection’s emphasis on affable, crowd-pleasing interludes goes a long way towards rendering such concerns moot – with the satisfying third act ensuring that the whole thing concludes on as positive and entertaining a note as one could’ve envisioned.
    With nary a word raised in anger throughout, the end result is a first-class piece of work that boasts plenty of attributes that are hard to dislike, creating a pleasant diversion from the plethora of films that seem to thrive on violence, cussing and assorted bits of sex and drugs and rock’n’roll.
    The book the movie is based on actually birthed a series that found Ada going to New York, Moscow, and even Parliament. The foundation is already there for Manville to have her own franchise.
    And after this joyous, not-as-syrupy-as-it-appears first trip, where Mrs. Harris goes, we must follow.

#mrsharrisgoestoparis